Poch Performance Review

[Gbspurs]

This give Poch "the players he wants" is pie in the sky and a load of bollocks! If the current squad was not to Poch liking but you could see some semblance of man management, tactical nuance, demonstrating that he could make sensible substitutions and changing formation to negate the opponents then there might be a point, but he doesnt. Believe it or not our players are not as bad as a lot of you make out. Do you honestly believe getting "players he wants" will suddenly erase the many of his short falls I just listed? I do not think so some how. His problems are more than players he wants.

I think my point is not that the players aren't players that Poch wants, I think some of our players are players that no manager would succeed with and Poch has been given the responsibility of getting them out.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Has his squad management/rotation been discussed?
Hardly any injuries all season but virtually no rotation and a number of players completely ostricised from match day squads ?
Sell em or play em, no brainer.

 

[Main Man]

Now you are being ridiculous. A fully motivated Kaboul has all the necessary ingredients to be a top captain for us. The fact that it didn't work out how Poch hoped isn't a reason to blame him for trying.

Poch would have wanted Ade and Kaboul on his side, trying their hardest and playing to the best of their ability. The fact that he put responsibility on them proves he wanted it to work. When it didn't he had no choice but to remove the players from the squad.

At some point you have to stop treating the players like blameless children and accept that not every issue with the club is the managers fault. How many managerial sackings will it take?

I, alongside many, many Spurs fans could have told you that Kaboul and Ade were not suitable candidates for captaincy in the Summer.

Fully motivated or not, Kaboul is an absolute shadow of the player he was four years ago now. We should have got rid of him as opposed to Dawson (now there's a true Captain).

Kabouls reintroduction to the team in Jan aswell as Ade's appearance now and then would suggest they aren't quite the bad eggs as made out however, or surely they wouldn't appear at all? It screams out poor man-management to me, whether they are ****s or not.

 

[tobi]

I disagree. I think our off the ball movement has been a lot better than under AVB or Sherwood.

I've seen flashes on occasion but it's still rare IMO.

The scenario where everyone comes short and no one attacks space still happens too often.

 

[Shadydan]

I've seen flashes on occasion but it's still rare IMO.

The scenario where everyone comes short and no one attacks space still happens too often.

Until we buy better players who are able to think for themselves by making clever runs to open up space then it won't be rectified, no matter who's in charge.

 

[yankspurs]

Tactical nous: 1/10
Team management: 4/10
Working with the Bale 7: 3/10
Youth development and progress: 5/10
Working with new signings: 5/10

Overall grade: C-. Avoids a D due to Chelsea (H) and picking up 4 against Arsenal.

 

[tobi]

Until we buy better players who are able to think for themselves by making clever runs to open up space then it won't be rectified, no matter who's in charge.

I agree to an extent but the main three (Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela) are capable, it's poor coaching IMO.

Many times it's so obvious what's missing that I wonder how Pochettino and his staff seemingly don't see it.

A variation of Eriksen coming short, Chadli attacking space and Lamela tucking in creating space for the overlapping full back. It's not difficult.

 

[Hotspur33]

Here's the thing, I've been a staunch supporter of Poch, mainly because I liked what I saw of what he was doing at Saints and still believe he can do that here and improve upon it. They played the best football in the league, had a solid back 4 but just lacked the depth and quality in their squad to finish higher in the league.

With all that said and now that the season is almost over, I do have some niggling doubts about him and I am wondering if he's got what it takes. Honestly, I feel like a bit of a dick for thinking that way and I keep telling myself that we have to be patient.

Spurs fans are used to change. We've had so much of it over the years and maybe we've just become totally at ease seeing our manager change if he doesn't hit absolutely every objective that he's been set. That's not right. I also feel that our fanbase is almost bi-polar in it's reactions to wins and losses. Come on here after a win and it's all sunshine and birds singing. Come on here after a loss, any loss, and it's like the world is ending and change must happen now!

I don't believe for a second that Levy is unhappy with Poch and I think we need to come to terms with him staying put for at least another season. I'm happy about that as long as I see progression.

Now, the other thing I'm feeling guilty about is that I'm feeling my head slowly turning towards Jurgen Klopp's situation. He's said he wants to come and manage in England and as of right now, I don't think there is any obvious suitor for him.

Chelsea - Mourinho
Utd - LVG
City - possibly, but apparently waiting for Guardiola, Benitez or Ancelotti
Arsenal - Wenger
Liverpool - possibly, but owner/chairman isn't trigger happy and BR has done well enough to keep his job.

There are no other clubs beyond us that I think Klopp would consider. I also think there are parrallels between Dortmund a few years back and where Spurs are now. He'd be a perfect fit for us and could arguably elevate us up to a top 4 team, just like he did with Dortmund.

I'm thinking that if things are going well for Poch by xmas then we need to be sounding out Jurgen and seeing if we can entice him over. Thoughts?

I must confess to having the same thoughts about Klopp. And I bet you it has crossed Levy's mind.However I quickly dismissed it, as I'm sure Levy would have.
Firstly it would cost a lot to ditch Poch, would cost even more to get Klopp to say yes.
And I think Klopp would want a team that will be playing CL football rather than a team that is, in my opinion at least, a way off CL football.
Although I am curious as to where he will end up. As there doesn't seem to be a job for him here unless Man city have given up on Pep. Or unless Wenger decides to step aside to allow Klopp to be his successor.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I've seen flashes on occasion but it's still rare IMO.

The scenario where everyone comes short and no one attacks space still happens too often.

It's not as good as it could be but there is definitely improvement.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I must confess to having the same thoughts about Klopp. And I bet you it has crossed Levy's mind.However I quickly dismissed it, as I'm sure Levy would have.
Firstly it would cost a lot to ditch Poch, would cost even more to get Klopp to say yes.
And I think Klopp would want a team that will be playing CL football rather than a team that is, in my opinion at least, a way off CL football.
Although I am curious as to where he will end up. As there doesn't seem to be a job for him here unless Man city have given up on Pep. Or unless Wenger decides to step aside to allow Klopp to be his successor.

Chances are unless Klopp came in and was given a squad good enough to finish top four from the get go he we would still finish 6th. He is not a magician that can turn average players into world beaters. Remember he's just come off the back of an awful season with Dortmund so is not infallible.

I prefer to stay with Poch. He has had a year to get used to the role, assess the challenge and identify where we need to improve and strengthen. Now the next stage is implementation.

Any manager we appoint would take a year to go through the same process. We can't keep sacking managers because they don't exceed expectations a year into a long contract. As long as we don't fall below par we should keep faith that in the long term he will improve us. And despite any mistakes Poch has made this season you shouldn't discount his ability to learn from them with experience.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I agree to an extent but the main three (Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela) are capable, it's poor coaching IMO.

Many times it's so obvious what's missing that I wonder how Pochettino and his staff seemingly don't see it.

A variation of Eriksen coming short, Chadli attacking space and Lamela tucking in creating space for the overlapping full back. It's not difficult.

If it's not difficult why aren't the players smart enough to do it?

Did you need to be coached about every single thing when you played football?

These things should be part and parcel of being a Premier League footballer.

You all said the same criticism's about Hoddle, then Jol, then Ramos, then Redknapp, then AVB, then Sherwood....

F*cking Groundhog Day!

 

[prawnsandwich]

The manager's job is to pick the best available XI and employ good tactics to get the best out of them.
MoPo is doing neither.

 

[DiamondLites]

Some bizarre and infuriating personnel choices, but I still have faith he is the right guy to take us forward

 

[tobi]

If it's not difficult why aren't the players smart enough to do it?

Did you need to be coached about every single thing when you played football?

These things should be part and parcel of being a Premier League footballer.

You all said the same criticism's about Hoddle, then Jol, then Ramos, then Redknapp, then AVB, then Sherwood....

F*cking Groundhog Day!

Sometimes you need to show people what it is their doing wrong.

Those players have shown in flashes that they can do it so why not coach them to do it more often? Watch film with them and encourage them.

Generally we sign players that have a certain reputation, sometimes we think A will bring this to the team and B is an upgrade on C. They get here and suddenly look worse than who they've replaced.

What are the coaches doing to them?

 

[HW61]

It only just occurred to me that our beloved Spurs haven't really changed in 25 years. We remain a cup team....an unsuccessful one at that. The exception was the season we made Champions league.

We look back at this season. Two cracking games against Chels and Ars. The rest pretty drab and disappointing.

Even in the final year of Gazza, with Lineker. A good side. Balanced and lots of flair. We destroyed Ars in the semis and went on to win the cup. But in the league we were mid table.

The past 25 years we've seen some great games involving great players. But that amounts to effectively a good cup run in terms of number of games each season. We've not had that mentality of winners and focus to challenge consistently at the business end of the season.

Poch will probably end the same way as the other coaches. Until we find a manager with the experience and talent to instill a winning mentality for a full season I don't think much will change.

Whilst Levy is with us little will change either.

Just my view.

 

[sebcole]

Question do you think Fergie would of got our current squad in a better position and manage us tactically better?

ofcourse

 

[panoma]

I have started to question his philosophy about high pressing and high intensity. Its more or less saying that he require us to work harder than the opposition, and its true that often win the match.

But its not really any tactic, its simply common sense. Any manager would agree that if their team worked harder than the opposition they would likely win, but it would also run the players into the ground. Not to mention what is the plan when we fail to press and work hard?

Lets be honest here, its hard to guess from watching us that his philosophy is for us to press high and work with a high intensity. He simply must do better than that, atleast be able to adept.

 

[millsey]

Some bizarre and infuriating personnel choices, but I still have faith he is the right guy to take us forward

Based on?

 

[ethanedwards]

I agree re Fazi and Dembele not so sure re Stambouli, simple not seen enough to decide.

If the money is right any of them could be off.

We wasted £80m, 80!

Much cheaper to change an inept manager.

 

[spurs9]

A lot of people hoping for Klopp, but would you give him time? How do you know he would be better for us than Poch?

In his first season at Mainz, he finished 14th (in Bundesliga 2), when they finished 9th the year before.

In his first season for Dortmund, he finished 6th (though was an improvement form 13th) then the season after 5th (with no EL to contend with) and they had a decent amount of players that first season that was part of the title winning team (Weinderfell, Hummles, Subatic, Kehl, Sahin, Blaszczykowski). They promoted some youth (Schmelzer & later Goetze), bought some key signings (Bender, Lewandowski, Piszczek, Grosskreutz & Kagawa), had patience and won the league.

Do you really think Klopp would do that much better with our squad?

Interesting note, in Klopp's first season, they also has a good young base for the team, which they grew upon and it was slightly older than ours (25.3 ave age to our 24).